Tractor bus body



July 11, 1933. G. M. scHANTz Er Al.

TRACTOR BUS BODY Filed Aug. 7, 1931 w w mmf@ d m f wnwn fw *A Hw, n www MYI B Patented July 11, 1933 limitan sraras x GORDON ,M sci-iANTzfiiNn WILBUR P. DIEFENDiiaifiiii, or iiIiLiiNTowN, PNNSYL- viiNIA,-AssieNoRs To INTERNATIONAL ivioToRcoiviPANY, or NEWl YORK, N. Y.; A f

f More particularly, the invention embodies an A improved commercial vehicle body, the pas- CORPORATION F, DELAWARE TRACTOR Bus BODY A Applicationr filed August 7, 1931. ",Sieri'al No. 555,783.

The-present invention relates to'bodies for motor vehicles and embodies, more specifically, an improved tractor'trailei` construction, i

tli'e body whereof constitutes t-he trailer of the vehicle and is suitably connected to the tractor which carries the sourceof power.`

, seiiger carrying portion ofwhicli is in the i' form of trailer mounted Vupon-the tractor through a vsuitable ifth wheel connection.

The application of tractor trailer princi-V ples to commercial vehicles of the passenger carrying type has never `before been made, the difficulty due'to'tlie isolation of the veh'icle operator from the passenger compartment being the chief; objection to such construction.` The -desirable characteristics of a tractor trailer vehicleooiistruction, particularly in fleet operation, will be readily Yapparent since spare trailer or tractor units may be provided to be substituted for corresponding units of vehicles in operation upon the falling into disrepair thereof. An

object of the inventionaccordingly.is to provide a vehicle of 'the tractor trailer type which is adapted for carrying passengers, the connection between the tractor and trailer being effected by means of a suitable fifth wheel and means being provided to afford access between the vehicle operators eab upon the tractor and the passenger compartment upon the trailer. Y j

Y ii. further object of the invention is to provide an improved vehicle construction ofthe above cliaractei-wherein the seating structure of the trailer is such as to aiford a maximum passenger capacity without disturbing the standard requirements for vehicle bodies of this type.

A further object of the invention is to provide a commercial vehicle of the passenger carrying type, wherein the passenger carryino compartment is effectively isolated from vthe operators compartment and the engine compartment. l

Further objects, not specilically enumerated above, will be apparent as the invention is described ingreater detail in connecaway andin section, showing a vehicle clonvstructed in accordance with the present i11- vention.V .i l

HFigure 2 isa view in side elevation, showing the vehicle of Figure 1.

Referring to the above drawing, Athe inven-Y tion will be seenv to lie-embodied in a tractor trailer .type of. passenger carrying vehicle Figui-e1 is a plan view, partly broken tion with the accompanying drawing, wherewherein the tractor is Vshown at 1 and the trailer at 2.. The tractor frame Sis mounted f' upon suitable frontand rear wheels l and the. usual engine compartment 5v and operators seat iis provided. Therear wall? ofthe. operators compartment-is formed with curvature which is concentric to the axis of a fifth wheel Swhichl is carried upon theftractor frame. This wheel may be of standard design and forms no part of the present invention. In the rear curved wall 7 windows 9 are provided to. cooperate with windowsl formed in the adj acentportion of the trailer members of the tractor frame are preferably depressed at to decrease the overall lheight of the trailer body and facilitate the movement of passengers into the trailer'body. j The forward end of the trailer body is preferably curvedat 11 about the axis of the -of the'body at 12 to afford a more pleasing contour line, as well as to provide greater clearance between the opposed portionsof the trailer and cab atV the topsthereof. In this fashion, relative movement of the tractor and vtrailer about a horizontalfaXis passing trans-` versely through the fifth wheel is effectively accommodatedl without causing interference between these parts.v -Rearwardly of the plane of the rear wheels of thetractor, a door 13 is provided in the trailer body to receive passengers.'V A rear door 13n may be provided as is customary in vehicles of this character and the interior of the rear portion of the trailer body may be arranged inany desired Y fashion. Adjacent the front ydoor 13, a for,-

body to be described hereinafter. rlhe'frame Y Figure 2.

lseat 6 and Window 9 in the tractor.

mignt move rearwardly into the after portion of the trailer body and into the main seating portions thereof, AGircumferentiallyl disposed seats 18 are mounted about thecurved forward end of the trailer body andthe passenger carrying capacity of the vehicle is thus .considerably increased. The adaptability of these units for rapid interchange of tractors and trailers-Willbe readilyapparent andthus a fleet of vehicles may be kept in the proper conditionof repair Without requiringlan un Ydue number of idle units. Due to the threepoint Vsuspension of the trailer body, the lat- VVtermay be built cheaply and'comparatively lightf and 'all vibration and chassis noises from the tractor would be substantially eliminated. Not only does the Vforegoing con-V struction aii'ord a large capacity With overall length Within the legal limits but the turning radius of the vehicle is smaller than Withthev conventional type of passenger carrying vehicle. Due to the uniform distribution of Weight and the use of dual tires in front as.

'Wellas in the front 'of the passenger carrying body, small tires may be utilized and the isolation of the passenger compartment from the engine compartment effectively eliminates A any carbon monoxide Ifirey hazard, the gas tank and exhaust pipe being carried entirely upon the tractor.' The passengerrarrying body not only has a loW center of gravity but may be formed With a low loading platform and the braking and traction power is greatly increased over standard designs.

While the invention has been described With specific reference to the accompanying drawing,r it is not to .be limited, saveas delined viin the appended claim.

We claim as our invention:

Incombination With a tractor carrying an o perat-ors cab and driving mechanism and a trailerhavinga body adapted to carry passengers, a lifth Wheel mounting the trailer on the tractor, the front Wall of the bodyand rear wall of the .cab being curved substantially upon theaxis ot the fifth" vvheel, spaced windows in the curved Walls of the cab. and trailer, respectively, adoor in the side of the body, and a guard to direct passengers from the doors in rontof the Windows. y

This specification signed this 3rd day of August,-A. D. 1931.

i GORDON MSCHANTZ,

c WILnUn r. DrnrnNDnnFEn. 

